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Internal Displacement Update, Issue 27: 19 October - 15 November 2017

Countries
Iran
+ 11 more
Sources
IDMC
Publication date

Feature

Iran

Affected areas Kermanshah province
Cause of displacement Disaster
Figures More than 70,000 new displacements between 12 and 14 November

Context

More than 70,000 people were displaced within Kermanshah province between 12 and 14 November after a 7.3 magnitude earthquake struck the border region between Iraq and Iran. About 430 people were killed and 7,800 injured on the Iranian side of the border (Iranian Red Crescent, 13 Nov 2017; Iranian Red Crescent, 19 Nov 2017). Entire neighbourhoods were reduced to rubble in the cities of Sar Pol Zahab and Ghasr Shirin where almost 80 percent of infrastructure was destroyed. Water and electricity was cut in heavily affected areas. Landslides triggered by the quake and its aftershocks blocked off roads and hampered the delivery of aid (Al Jazeera, 13 Nov 2017).Those forced to leave behind their destroyed homes were in dire need of shelter as night time temperatures fell below zero in Kermanshah province (BBC, 13 Nov 2017;
WHO, 16 Nov 2017).